Some people like surprises, some people don't -- but we've all got to deal with them.

When it comes to summer television, we here at Zap2it like to think we're pretty unflappable -- after all, it's kind of our job to know how the season is going to play out on your screens. This year, though, a few things caught us off-guard. Some surprises were good, like, free-ice-cream-from-the-hot-shirtless-beach-vendor good. Some surprises were more along the lines of finding a wasp in that ice cream... with your tongue. Surprise?

As Labor Day marks the end of summer 2012, the Zap2it Team takes a look back at our most unexpected television discoveries this year.

There are some things that are just really fun to hate. Bret Easton Ellis' tweet... Show More »

There are some things that are just really fun to hate. Bret Easton Ellis' tweets, old guys who wear Ed Hardy t-shirts, people who run ten miles at the gym without sweating through their sports bras. For me, Olivia Munn is fun to hate. I have pretty much always found her delightfully obnoxious and overrated. But she's so good on "The Newsroom," even I can't criticize her. Her acting is subtle and nuanced, her character is smart and capable, and her chemistry with Thomas Sadoski snuck up on me in the most disarming way.

At least I sort of hate that I can't hate her anymore. I still have that to hold onto.

I kind of thought the "Gilmore Girls"-shaped hole in my heart would remain there forever, until Amy Sherman-Pa... Show More »

I kind of thought the "Gilmore Girls"-shaped hole in my heart would remain there forever, until Amy Sherman-Palladino's fast-talking "Bunheads" entered the scene. Michelle is my new Lorelai, Fanny is my new Emily Gilmore (duh), and Sasha is my new Rory (you know, if Rory was a mean girl). The show's small coastal town serves up nearly as much charm as Stars Hollow did in seven seasons, and the quick-witted, bantering dialogue keeps us engaged week after week. Here's hoping it keeps up -- and that we can too -- in Season 2.

Apparently, not all of our "Gilmore Girls" holes are meant to be filled. I'd hoped that "Bunheads" would... Show More »

Apparently, not all of our "Gilmore Girls" holes are meant to be filled. I'd hoped that "Bunheads" would provide that familiar tingle, but it just reminded me how badly I missed Stars Hollow -- and how well "Gilmore" holds up on marathon re-watch. Fanny is a poor man's Emily Gilmore, and everyone knows Emily wouldn't associate with a poor man's anything. She'll leave that nonsense for harlots like Pennilyn Lott.

No matter how many "Bunheads" come along, I am clinging to the original. Like Dean clung to Rory way after they broke up. Like Lorelai clung to her first cup of coffee in the morning. Like Kirk clung to his pillow to protect his modesty during his naked night terrors.

Seriously, the DVDs are always super cheap. Do yourself a favor and don't settle for second best. There is no Paris Gellar in "Bunheads." You deserve Paris Gellar.

This season started off terribly -- not only did the show perpetuate the new trend of bringing back old conte... Show More »

This season started off terribly -- not only did the show perpetuate the new trend of bringing back old contestants (which we are SO over), but the game got reset after four weeks and let the veterans start playing, which anyone could see coming a mile away. Bor-ing.

However. In the past week, Dan has hatched a plan that will cement him as one of the best to ever play the game -- it rivals Dr. Will -- and the house has gone topsy-turvy. This is what I've waited all summer for.

The first season of USA's "Suits" fit perfectly into the network's lineup of blue sky shows, despite the fact that the lawye... Show More »

The first season of USA's "Suits" fit perfectly into the network's lineup of blue sky shows, despite the fact that the lawyer dramedy takes place at a New York City law firm -- slightly less sunny than the typical USA setting. It brought humor to the typical lawyer procedural, making it an ideal summer show. But the series stepped up its game in Season 2, taking us inside each character's personal life while continuing to fight compelling cases and uniting the lawyers against a common enemy. Although Patrick J. Adams was nominated for a SAG Award for his Season 1 performance, he got even better this summer, especially playing against the sublime Gabriel Macht. Actually, the entire ensemble is fantastic. Do yourself a favor and catch up before the show returns for the second half of Season 2 in January.

The Season 2 finale, when Mona was revealed as "A" (or an "A") was actually kind of a let down and I was nervous about Season 3 takin... Show More »

The Season 2 finale, when Mona was revealed as "A" (or an "A") was actually kind of a let down and I was nervous about Season 3 taking a dip in quality, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that the show actually stepped up its game this season. The "A" the girls are dealing with now is not messing around -- this "A" makes Mona look like amateur hour. It was so good that I don't even mind Maya's death turning out to be a red herring.

When Honey Boo Boo decided that her male pet pig, Glitzy, might be gay, her sister Pumpkin (so named because she has pumpk... Show More »

When Honey Boo Boo decided that her male pet pig, Glitzy, might be gay, her sister Pumpkin (so named because she has pumpkin goosh in her head instead of brains, I assume) was appalled. "It ain't gon be gay," drawled Pumpkin. It was her best attempt at a sentence in the entire season, so yay for Pumpkin.

"It can if it want to," Honey Boo Boo Child replied defensively. "You can't tell that pig what to do!"

How very enlightened for a six-year-old whose best friend is her pregnant sister's unborn fetus. Honey Boo Boo, six-year-old Pig Rights Activist, there may be hope for you yet.

I was skeptical that "Major Crimes," the spinoff of "The Closer" that features much of the same cast as its pred... Show More »

I was skeptical that "Major Crimes," the spinoff of "The Closer" that features much of the same cast as its predecessor, would feel like anything more than a retread of the original. So far, though, it's doing a pretty good job. Mary McDonnell's character has a much different vibe than Kyra Sedgwick's, which helps a lot, but creator James Duff has also pulled off the nice trick of keeping many of the same characters but altering the tone a little and sharing stories among a strong ensemble.

Hey, NBC, 1984 called and they want their Olympics coverage back! Seriously, how in 2012 could the network still tape delay the G... Show More »

Hey, NBC, 1984 called and they want their Olympics coverage back! Seriously, how in 2012 could the network still tape delay the Games' most important events -- including the Opening and Closing Ceremonies? The network thoroughly butchered it with their idiotic commentary and editing -- like cutting performances by Muse and the Kinks to air an hour-long preview of "Animal Practice."

The 2012 Summer Olympics events were more available for viewing than ever before and yet it still wasn't... Show More »

The 2012 Summer Olympics events were more available for viewing than ever before and yet it still wasn't enough for some people. NBC is a business, I get keeping the marquee events for primetime ratings. But I thought it was awesome how every event was live online -- and spent nearly two weeks watching Olympic events all day long, even things like kayak and skeet shooting. And the people who were complaining -- if you were able to watch on TV during the day (and were mad you couldn't), why weren't you able to watch online during the day?

The usual reality suspects that have been fun for your summer-TV-lovin' brain to watch in past seasons were either far too ab... Show More »

The usual reality suspects that have been fun for your summer-TV-lovin' brain to watch in past seasons were either far too abrasive, far too expected or far too boring this year. "Dance Moms" went from a show about this sorta funny tyrant of a teacher and the daffy moms of the kids she teaches to a show about a teacher that you kind of can't believe is allowed around children. "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" turned into the crucify Teresa Giudice show, and the New York housewives and their three newbies were painfully boring without Jill Zarin, Alex McCord and Kelly Bensimon in the mix.

Last summer, "Teen Wolf" was basically an hour-long music video with attractiv... Show More »

Last summer, "Teen Wolf" was basically an hour-long music video with attractive guys who rarely wore shirts and spent a lot of time staring into each others' eyes. The female characters were insufferably boring and the lead came off as dumb and clumsy, but there was enough there (looking at you, Dylan O'Brien and Colton Haynes) to keep me watching.

This season, the show became a must-watch for me and even won over a handful of my snobbier critic friends (you know, the type who won't admit that they've even heard of a Snooki). It was action-packed, surprising, and dimensional. It acknowledged its own flaws and fixed them. It delivered the emotional resonance and consequences that other shows in the genre always forget.

And the guys still rarely wore shirts and still had a lot of homoerotic eye-sex, and all was well.

USA's "Covert Affairs" stumbles more than it soars. For the most part, Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham manage to salvage ... Show More »

USA's "Covert Affairs" stumbles more than it soars. For the most part, Piper Perabo and Christopher Gorham manage to salvage their roles despite frequent character inconsistencies. But others (namely, Anne Dudek, Peter Gallagher and Sendhil Ramamurthy) largely kick it on the sidelines, even though they are clearly capable of doing more. Even giving Annie's sister a marital crisis and changing Jay from a milquetoast with daddy issues to a political climber with daddy issues didn't do the trick.

So this summer it was an unexpected relief when the show mercifully cut Ramamurthy and Dudek free with little fanfare ... a car bomb! a cross-country move! -- and even less creativity. Now, if Arthur Campbell would just take that Chinese ambassadorship...

The producers of TNT's new "Dallas" were on the right track by not trying a reboot but instead continuing the story of the ... Show More »

The producers of TNT's new "Dallas" were on the right track by not trying a reboot but instead continuing the story of the classic prime-time soap with a mix of old and new characters. Still -- it's a pretty big legacy to live up to. But by owning the twist-laden and over-the-top antics that made the original a hit, "Dallas" 2.0 made itself into a remarkably fun way to spend a summer evening. Groundbreaking? Not hardly. But fun? All kinds of it.

Network TV is hardly at its best in the summer, but this year? Yikes. Between cable series from "Breaking Bad" to "Awkward" and a stack... Show More »

Network TV is hardly at its best in the summer, but this year? Yikes. Between cable series from "Breaking Bad" to "Awkward" and a stack of catchup viewing, there were stretches of days at a time where nothing on network primetime crossed my screen. If it weren't for the Olympics and "NY Med," I might not have watched the broadcast nets at all.

Forget "Honey Boo-Boo" (no, seriously, forget "Honey Boo-Boo"), the best reality show of the summer is HBO's "Hard Knocks." T... Show More »

Forget "Honey Boo-Boo" (no, seriously, forget "Honey Boo-Boo"), the best reality show of the summer is HBO's "Hard Knocks." The annual documentary series, which follows a different NFL franchise's summer training camp each year (this season it's the Miami Dolphins), has it all: relevance (they struck reality gold by featuring Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson in the first episode, in which he makes a joke about going to jail -- before his arrest -- and then managed to include scenes of his firing in their Tuesday night show), heartbreak (players' dovetailing careers when they are cut from the team, while an equipment manager ruthlessly empties their locker) and hilarity (rookie QB Ryan Tannehill's mind-boggling obliviousness about which NFL divisions his competing teams play for). The bonus? Liev Schreiber's magnificent narration.

When FX announced it was trying out a couple of late-night shows, the safe money would have been on the guy you'v... Show More »

When FX announced it was trying out a couple of late-night shows, the safe money would have been on the guy you've heard of (Russell Brand of "Brand X") putting on a more watchable, interesting show than the guy you likely hadn't heard of before (W. Kamau Bell of "Totally Biased"). The safe money was wrong. Brand's live-wire persona did not come across well in "Brand X," but Bell's "Daily Show"-esque series is getting better by the week.

The natural inclination when a U.S. network announces plans to adapt a British series is a groan, and occasionally a skeptical ey... Show More »

The natural inclination when a U.S. network announces plans to adapt a British series is a groan, and occasionally a skeptical eye roll. So the idea that MTV would create an American version of the British comedy hit "Inbetweeners" -- especially after the failure of "Skins" -- did not instill much confidence. Imagine the surprise when the new comedy turned out to be hilarious, well-cast and completely worthy of bearing the name of its predecessor. No, really -- it's great! Like the successful "Office" reboot, the first episodes take storylines from the U.K. hit but interpret them in an American way. Can't wait to see what hijinks are in store once the show starts to deviate from the original.